If you're bracing for little men in flying saucers, you can probably relax.
Astronomers say the colourful, bright object that captured attention as it burned across the night sky Sunday was more than likely a very rare meteor event.
Fire in the Sky
Cynthia Crowther had just lit a cigarette outside her Newmarket home when the sky suddenly caught fire.
"Oh my God, I think I just saw a plane crash," she declared to her husband, running inside.
A ball of light, seething white, had careened overhead, spitting out dazzling debris.
"Oh my God, I think I just saw a plane crash," she declared to her husband, running inside.
A ball of light, seething white, had careened overhead, spitting out dazzling debris.
While the increase in officially recorded meteorites over the past few years is indeed startling for anyone watching (i.e. Signs of the Times), it seems that there are many more that go unrecorded. Over the past few months we have carried several reports of these unofficial meteors that are usually reported by individuals on bulletin boards and blogs.
Here's the latest from Perth Australia:
Here's the latest from Perth Australia:
A big boom, followed by earthquake-like tremors. That's how people are describing what they felt Thursday morning.
Starting around 9. the Count on 2 newsroom started getting calls into our newsroom from viewers, from Johns Island, up to Isle of Palms and McClellanville and all the way over to Nesmith.
South Carolina typically sees 10-15 earthquakes a year. But, we don't feel most of them.
Starting around 9. the Count on 2 newsroom started getting calls into our newsroom from viewers, from Johns Island, up to Isle of Palms and McClellanville and all the way over to Nesmith.
South Carolina typically sees 10-15 earthquakes a year. But, we don't feel most of them.
At a 71-degree angle, going 60 mph, an object went through the house of Bloomington residents David and Dee Riddle at 9:40 a.m. Monday morning. Although it has not been officially confirmed, the object is suspected to be a meteorite.
"I was in the kitchen when I heard the sound of glass breaking," Dee Riddle, whose house is located off of West Miller Street, said. "There was also a thump and a shake."
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| ©Pantagraph/David Proeber |
| James Day, a professor of Geology at Illinois State University examines a space object that fell through the atmosphere and crashed through the window of a Bloomington home on Monday. |
"I was in the kitchen when I heard the sound of glass breaking," Dee Riddle, whose house is located off of West Miller Street, said. "There was also a thump and a shake."
From southeastern Wisconsin to as far as Des Moines, Iowa and St. Louis, people reported seeing balls of fire, possibly meteors, streaking across the sky Sunday night.
No major meteor showers were expected in the northern hemisphere on Sunday night, said Jim Lattis, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison astronomy department's Space Place. But he said it was possible that a minor shower may have been what prompted calls to authorities.
No major meteor showers were expected in the northern hemisphere on Sunday night, said Jim Lattis, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison astronomy department's Space Place. But he said it was possible that a minor shower may have been what prompted calls to authorities.
Witnesses reported seeing a fireball streaking across the night skies above San Diego County on Thursday, prompting authorities to look for a crashed plane.
California Highway Patrol officers were among those who told officials they saw an object sizzle across the sky for four minutes over east San Diego County.
California Highway Patrol officers were among those who told officials they saw an object sizzle across the sky for four minutes over east San Diego County.
Civil aviation authorities in India are struggling to determine what caused at least 10 pilots to report seeing a "ball of fire" in the air Sunday morning.
Described by several pilots as a "ball of fire, orange in color and scattered," the phenomenon was said to have appeared over the Indian state of Gujarat and has left aircraft officials perplexed at its possible cause, the Sunday Express said.
Described by several pilots as a "ball of fire, orange in color and scattered," the phenomenon was said to have appeared over the Indian state of Gujarat and has left aircraft officials perplexed at its possible cause, the Sunday Express said.
[...] I was just outside in the back yard in Northern Georgia, and an incredibly bright light illuminated the dark yard like an arc lamp. I looked up and saw a meteor streaking overhead, white hot, which then broke up into orange, glowing fragments. This happened at 10:21PM EST. I apologize for posting something random like this, but it was astonishing. Perhaps it was a piece of space junk that reentered the atmosphere tonight. Did anyone else see this? It was truly spectacular.
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| ©Ray Palmer |
| Space Junk? |
Recorded Tuesday at about 2 am, the thirty minute long color film exposure also captured a bright but mysterious object that moved slowly across the sky for over an hour. Widely seen, the object began as a small point and expanded as it tracked toward the North (left), resulting in a comet-like appearance in this picture. What was it? Reports are now identifying the mystery glow with a plume from the explosion of a malfunctioned Russian rocket stage partially filled with fuel. The rocket stage was marooned in Earth orbit after a failed communication satellite launch almost a year ago on February 28, 2006. A substantial amount of debris from the breakup can be tracked.
Comment: Ho hum. Just another mammouth meteor falling through the skies. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.